October 22, 2009
Etc: Campus News and Notes
LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT: If you’re looking for some sparkly entertainment, stroll down to Westlake Park between 5 and 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24. That’s when Andrew Davidson, affiliate assistant professor in the School of Art, will have an installation featuring a bicycle controlling a kind of interactive light sculpture. Titled Hub + Spoke, the installation uses various lighting components and sensors to activate a spoke-like sculpture of electroluminescent wires in response to activity on and around the bicycle. With a microprocessor controlling dynamic programmable LEDs, hidden proximity detectors, motion sensors, and a magic electronic wand, Hub + Spoke should enliven the night.
EXCELLENT ESSAYIST: Oceanography Professor John R. Delaney is featured in a book called The Fourth Paradigm that was unveiled Oct. 19 by Microsoft Research. The book provides a compilation of essays from dozens of leading scientists, academics and experts who are applying the power of computing to help tackle some of society’s greatest challenges in health care, education, energy and environment. Delaney’s contribution is “A 2020 Vision for Ocean Science.” The book is a culmination of Microsoft researcher Jim Gray’s vision for a new scientific methodology focused on the power of data-intensive science. Contributors to the book offer their views and experiences with data-driven scientific discovery and a glimpse into the future. Anyone can download a free copy of The Fourth Paradigm here.
GOOD DIRT: Sally Brown, a research associate professor in the School of Forest Resources, College of the Environment at the UW, has been elected a Fellow in the Soil Science Society of America, the highest honor that society gives to its members. Brown’s research deals with the benefits and risks associated with land application of residuals. She is a member of the National Academy of Science Standing Committee on Soil Science and was a member of the academy’s Committee on the Bioavailability of Contaminants in Soils and Sediments.
‘A’ IN ACTIVISM: The UW has earned an honorable mention as one of the Best Universities for Asian American Pacific Islander activism through the Asian Pacific Americans for Progress network and the Angry Asian Man blog. The UW Asian Pacific Islander American Faculty and Staff Association, with a lot of help from students, nominated the UW for the honor.
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